The IT layer is where office moves go wrong. Furniture is forgiving; servers, comms, and network kit aren’t. A delayed IT cutover is the single most common reason an office move runs into Monday morning, and the cause is almost always sequencing rather than skill. This guide covers IT relocation for SMEs: who’s responsible for what, the order of operations from “the night before” to “the first day back,” and how the removals firm and the IT supplier should work alongside each other rather than past each other.
The two-supplier problem
Most SME office moves have two specialist suppliers in play: the removals firm and the IT supplier, whether that’s an in-house team or an external managed service provider (MSP). Both have a clear scope on paper. In practice, the boundary between them is where most issues surface.
A working split that holds up well:
- The removals firm handles physical lifting, transport, packing of non-active IT (peripherals, monitors, screens, cables in labelled boxes), and the move-day logistics at both buildings.
- The IT supplier handles the live kit: shutting down servers cleanly, decommissioning network and comms, packing active equipment with appropriate care, recommissioning at the new site, and testing.
What goes wrong is the middle. Who packs the server itself? Who’s responsible for the comms cabinet? Who wraps it, labels it, transports it, and unwraps it at the other end? These need answers in writing before move day, not negotiation on the day. A pre-move meeting between your removals project lead and your IT lead, with a written scope split, removes most of the risk. The wider context for this sits inside our office relocation planning timeline, which covers where the IT scope conversation lands in the 12 weeks before move day.
What “IT relocation” actually covers
Even for a small office, the IT estate is wider than people remember when they start scoping the move. A working list:
- Servers (on-premise, if any), often in a comms cabinet or rack
- Network kit: switches, routers, firewalls, wireless access points, patch panels
- Telephony: VoIP handsets, on-premise PBX if used, headsets, conference units
- Storage: NAS units, backup devices, tape drives if any
- Workstations: desktops or laptops, monitors, docks, peripherals
- Printers and MFPs: often heavier and more fragile than they look
- AV kit: meeting room screens, video conferencing units, control panels
- Access control and security: door readers, alarm panels, CCTV
- Cabling: patch leads, structured cabling that’s staying with the building, structured cabling that’s leaving with you
For each item, the project plan needs to answer three questions: who unplugs it, who packs and moves it, who plugs it back in.
The night before: clean shutdown
The 24 hours before the move are about getting the live estate to a stable, transportable state. The order matters.
- Confirm backups have run and are stored offsite or in cloud, not on a device that’s about to ride in a van. A pre-move full backup is non-negotiable.
- Inform the team that systems will be unavailable from a specific time. Set realistic expectations: many SME moves keep email and cloud apps running through the move because they’re not on-premise, but file servers, on-premise apps, and on-premise telephony will be down.
- Take an asset inventory with photos. A spreadsheet of every piece of kit, where it’s installed, what it connects to, and where it’s going at the new building. The IT supplier owns this; the removals firm needs a copy.
- Label every item. Cables go into bags labelled per device. Servers and network kit get destination labels (which room, which rack position, which port). Workstations get user names or desk numbers.
- Take photos of cable runs, server racks, and patch panels before unplugging anything. Recommissioning at the new building is an order of magnitude faster with reference photos than without.
- Shut down servers cleanly in the agreed sequence. Application servers first, file servers, then domain controllers and infrastructure. Power off and disconnect.
- Decommission the network last. Switches, firewalls, and access points can stay live until the IT team is ready to leave the building, then power off and pack.
By the time the removals crew arrives, every piece of active IT should be powered off, labelled, and ready to be packed or already packed by the IT supplier.
Moving day: handling and transport
Active IT kit needs different handling from furniture. Reputable office removals crews know this; the question is whether the working plan reflects it.
Anti-static handling. Servers, switches, and network kit benefit from anti-static bags and ESD-safe packing where possible. For SME-scale equipment in working order, the practical risk is low if kit is packed firmly and not jolted, but specifying anti-static treatment for the more sensitive items is sensible.
Padded transport. Servers and rack equipment travel best in padded crates or wrapped in dedicated furniture blankets, not loose with general office kit. Comms cabinets either travel as full units (if small enough) or are stripped down at the old building, with kit transported separately and the cabinet itself moved as furniture.
Dedicated van or zone. For higher-value or higher-risk kit, ask the office removals team to use a dedicated vehicle or a clearly separated zone within the van. This reduces handling and means active IT can be unloaded first at the new building so recommissioning can start while furniture is still being placed.
Sole-use transport for sensitive items. For businesses with regulatory or compliance considerations, sole-use transport (the van carries only your goods, no shared loads) is worth specifying.
Climate considerations. Avoid leaving kit in cold or damp conditions for long periods. A server that’s been sitting in an unheated van overnight in January will need time to acclimatise before it’s powered on at the new building. Plan the transport window accordingly.
At the new building: recommissioning sequence
The order of operations at the new site matters as much as the order at the old one. Working pattern:
- Network and comms first. Switches, firewalls, access points, routing, internet uplink. Nothing else works until the network does.
- Servers next. Power up infrastructure first (domain controllers, DNS, DHCP), then file and application servers. Verify each comes up cleanly before moving to the next.
- Telephony. VoIP handsets register, on-premise PBX (if any) recommissioned and tested.
- Workstations. Desktops and docks placed at desks per the floor plan, monitors connected, network and power confirmed.
- Peripherals and AV. Printers, MFPs, meeting-room screens, control panels.
- Access control and security. Door readers, alarm, CCTV.
Test everything before staff arrive. Walk-through with the IT lead and the project lead, ticking each system off the list. Anything not working gets logged, prioritised, and either fixed before Monday or flagged in the Monday morning briefing so staff know what’s pending.
The first day back
Monday morning is the test. With good planning, it’s quiet. Without it, it’s a queue of staff at the IT lead’s desk.
What good looks like on day one:
- Staff find their desk via clear floor-plan signage
- Workstations power up and log in to the network at first attempt
- Email and cloud apps work as they did on Friday
- Printing works
- Telephony works (or has a documented workaround for the day)
- A named person from the IT supplier is on-site for the first day to handle the inevitable small issues
Plan for an on-site IT presence for at least the first day, ideally the first week. Even with thorough testing, real-world use surfaces issues that an empty building doesn’t. A short morning stand-up between the office manager, the IT lead, and the on-site IT support person catches issues early.
Working with the removals firm
A good office removals firm doesn’t replace your IT supplier; it works alongside them. What to expect from the firm on the IT side:
- A clear scope for what the crew handles and what stays with IT
- Suitable transport (padded, separated, or sole-use as required)
- Crew briefed on which items are active IT and need different handling
- Coordination with the IT lead’s timeline so loading and unloading happen in the right sequence
- Access management at both buildings during the IT cutover window
Our office removals team coordinates directly with your IT supplier or in-house team during the survey and the move. We don’t take on IT scope ourselves; we handle the physical move and make sure the sequencing works for the people who do. The same surveyor who agrees the IT scope briefs the crew on the day, and we work across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland, north Northants, south Notts and Derbyshire, and across to Rugby.
Get a quote for your office move
IT relocation is the part of the office move where sequencing matters most. With a clear scope split between the removals firm and the IT supplier, a working night-before-and-day-of plan, and an on-site IT presence for the first day back, even a fully on-premise SME estate can move over a weekend without losing the working week. If you’re moving an office in Leicester or the surrounding county, our office moves in Leicester guide covers the local logistics, parking, and business-park access procedures that sit alongside this.
For a free, no-obligation quote on your office move, including coordination with your IT supplier on the move-day plan, fill in our contact form or call us on 0800 043 5393 to speak to one of our team. We’ll talk you through what’s involved, give you a clear quote, and answer any questions before you commit. No pressure either way.